Locked Out !

We have shared the anguish of residents of Mascot Towers who were ordered out of their apartments when cracks in the building suggested an imminent collapse was possible.  At least they had a few good years of residence before the problem suddenly resolved into a dispute over who would pay the remedial costs that will run into millions of dollars.

Spare a thought for the owners of apartments bought off the plan for prestige buildings in Erskineville which were completed in April 2018 and remain vacant because of a dispute over the contamination of the land underneath the buildings.   Two years later, a settlement brings them hope that they may finally be able to make use of those vacant apartments.

The Sugarcube Apartments and Honeycomb Terraces have finally reached agreement with the NSW Environmental Authority that " no unacceptable risks from the contamination that remains on the property ".  The long suffering owners will be allowed to move into the Sugarcube with occupation of Honeycomb Terraces to follow at a later date.

These prestige buildings were proposed on what is known as the Ashmore estate.   It had seven decades of prior use as the Metters factory which manufactured kitchen appliances and the land contained toxins which included  heavy metals, hydrocarbons and asbestos.   Council alleged that the developer had not complied with the consent conditions regarding remediation of the site before construction.

This proposed staging will provider a suitable pathway that enables the occupation of the site in an orderly fashion... without substantial further delays.  The agreement makes the City of Sydney and future residents responsible for future monitoring of the site.

This was the problem facing buyers who in good faith bought apartments off the plan and watched the building arise.  No building faults were suggested, but on completion access was denied because it was claimed that the land underneath had not been properly restored to good health.  Access might have been denied indefinitely until some sort of arrangement finally overcame the obstacle.

This sort of thing destroys buyer confidence in the integrity of new constructions.  There would be a very reasonable assumption that site remediation would be complete and approved before construction get under way, but a major construction reached completion before the buyers were denied access to the homes they had purchased.  This has caused financial loss and probably damaged the building integrity in the eyes of future buyers when apartments come up for resale.

It sends a clear warning that we need to do better.  It is the job of the consent authorities to make sure the site remediation has been complied with and that construction of the building adheres to the relevant ordinances as each step is completed.  It is expected that work will be inspected and a sign off negotiated at each stage which ensures that the building has met relevant work standards and is ready for occupation.

Usually, the purchase of a home is the biggest financial transaction any citizen makes in a lifetime and that needs a degree of protection.   The fact that construction faults are making later appearances and sites are found to be contaminated is a clear indication that our building inspection  regimen  is  not meeting the required standard

Resolving that dilemma should be an obligation beyond the machination of party politics  !